Hey, all of you binge-watching your guilty pleasure shows while staying safe at home, relaxing after working from home, returning for work after wearing a mask all day, or just stressed out from the real world! I have another suggestion to make your time in front of the big-screen TV in the living room, the slightly smaller screen in the bedroom, or even holding your tablet or smartphone work to help your appreciation of politics and government on television and then apply your understanding to help Coffee Party USA in one of our projects.
With the 2018-2019 television season out of the way, the members and volunteers of Coffee Party USA will move on to the 2019-2020 television season. Watch for the posting of the shortlists for the show categories along with an invitation to stream them while staying safe at home. If you want to become one of the voters for this or future Golden Coffee Cups, such as for the best political movies of 2020, become a member. Voting will happen on a members-only Facebook group.
Before I present the shortlists, I’m sharing a two-part activity Coffee Party USA and I are proposing our readers and supporters do.
The first part of the activity is to stream as many of the shows on the shortlists between now and March 13, 2021 to see which have the best portrayals of politics and government on television. The second is to become a member of Coffee Party USA by March 13, 2021, which you can do for as little as $30.00 per year. That’s because the members will also vote on the nominees and winners this year. That means you!
That’s your two-part activity. Now, have fun watching television while supporting the work of Coffee Party USA, whose core values include continuous learning on behalf of an informed citizenry, joining Coffee Party USA, and voting on the nominees!
Without any further ado, I present the shortlists for the Golden Coffee Cups for Television, beginning with the shortlist for Best Drama Series about Politics and Government.*
#FreeRayshawn
9-1-1
Big Little Lies
Billions
Doctor Who
Euphoria
Evil
Better Call Saul
Black Mirror
Carnival Row
David Makes Man
Designated Survivor
Godfather of Harlem
Homeland
How to Get Away with Murder
Hunters
Killing Eve
Madam Secretary
Mindhunter
Mr. Robot
Outlander
Ozark
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
Pose
Snowpiercer
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Short Treks
Star Wars Resistance
Stranger Things
Stumptown
Succession
S.W.A.T.
The Blacklist
The Boys
The Crown
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
The Good Fight
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Mandalorian
The Man in the High Castle
The Morning Show
The Outsider
The Rookie
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Vikings
Westworld
Succession won last year and Mindhunter the year before. In addition, the first winner of Best Miniseries or Movie for Television about Politics and Government, Black Mirror, has been moved here based on the reclassification of the series by the Television Academy. The shortlist sets up a situation where they could go up against each other for the trophy. Of course, they have to be nominated first. Will you be one of the people to join so you nominate them and the rest of the field?
( Follow over the jump to read the shortlists for television shows in the other four categories. )
On Crazy Eddie's Motie News, I quote reviews and comment on ten of them in The most honored political documentaries of 2017 examine crime, injustice, and the Syrian Civil War. The ones I don't mention are "Faces, Places," "Jane," "Long Strange Trip," "One of Us," and "Unrest," which are not on my list, have made the Oscar shortlist and are as good as any of the my top five. Here's to five out of my favorites, "Abacus," "Chasing Coral," "City of Ghosts," "Ex Libris," "Jane," "Long Strange Trip," "Strong Island," and "Unrest," filling up the slots when the Oscar nominees are announced.
- Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Educational Films
and WGBH/Frontline- Chasing Coral, Exposure Labs in partnership with The Ocean Agency & View Into the Blue in association with Argent Pictures & The Kendeda Fund
- City of Ghosts, Our Time Projects and Jigsaw Productions
- Ex Libris – The New York Public Library, Ex Libris Films
- Faces Places, Ciné Tamaris
- Human Flow, Participant Media and AC Films
- Icarus, Netflix Documentary in association with Impact Partners, Diamond Docs, Chicago
Media Project and Alex Productions- An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Paramount Pictures and Participant Media
- Jane, National Geographic Studios in association with Public Road Productions
- LA 92, Lightbox
- Last Men in Aleppo, Larm Film
- Long Strange Trip, Double E Pictures, AOMA Sunshine Films and Sikelia
- One of Us, Loki Films
- Strong Island, Yanceville Films and Louverture Films
- Unrest, Shella Films and Little by Little Films
A.J. Nelson was just four years old when he was killed in a hit-and-run by an intoxicated driver in Atlanta. Now his own mother, Raquel Nelson -- who was also hit by the car while trying to save her son -- faces up to three years in prison for A.J.'s death.Full story at Grist: When design kills: The criminalization of walking
Raquel and her three children got off a bus and -- with several other passengers -- attempted to cross a five-lane highway to get to her apartment across the street. Standing at the median, little A.J. reportedly saw someone else jaywalk and ran out into the street to follow. Raquel ran out after him to stop him. But it was too late. Both Raquel and A.J. were hit by a vehicle, and A.J. died in the hospital a few hours later.
The driver, who admitted having a few beers and pain medication that afternoon, spent just six months in jail. This Tuesday, a judge will sentence Raquel Nelson to serve up to 36 months in jail for the death of her own son.
...
Though the stop itself was directly across the street from Raquel's apartment where she got off the bus, the closest crosswalk was nearly a mile away. After a long day out in Atlanta, and a missed transfer, Raquel crossed the street with other passengers on the bus, taking the most direct route home.
Raquel was prosecuted for "vehicular homicide" and other charges because she and A.J. didn't use a crosswalk to walk home. Unfortunately, she is not the first grieving mother to be prosecuted for the hit-and-run death of her child in Atlanta. The same prosecutor who convicted Raquel for her son's death also convicted another Atlanta mother whose daughter was killed in a hit-and-run while attempting to cross the street.
My tea party would reduce legal immigration to a tiny trickle and get serious about enforcing sanctions against people who are here without permission...The truth is that neither party really wants to do anything about the extraordinary influx of Mexican nationals because they want to pander to a growing segment of Hispanic voters (or secondarily want to maintain the pool of cheap labor for US businesses). My party does not believe in unbounded multi-culturalism. My party also views the lawlessness of the current situation to be corrosive of the rule-of-law generally. My party views the global population overshoot problem as a condition that requires a more rigorous defense of US territory, sovereign resources, and even whatever remains of American common culture.One particular paragraph of my response bore directly on this paragraph.
There is already an answer to the Tea Party based on critical thinking. It's called the Coffee Party...They quite agree with Jim about the major parties being hostages to political money, and would also agree about many of his goals. The only thing they would not agree with Jim about would be severe restrictions on legal immigration, as Annabel Park, the Coffee Party's nominal leader, is Korean-American and would not get on board with any policy she sees as immigrant bashing.Given that background, it should come as no surprise that Kunstler himself would bring up his zero tolerance stance on immigration, however indirectly, and that I would jump on him for it.
Old Allen Ginsburg got it right fifty years ago: "America, go fuck yourself with your atom bomb," he said. Even back then, in the age of purple people eaters and the weird neutered figure of Ozzie Nelson lurking in kitchen with nothing to do but drink endless cups of coffee, all was not so well. Freedom to cruise for burgers turned out to be a pretty trashy thing, considering all the blood and sacrifice that preceded those days of fun in the California sunshine. Look at California now: Nathanial West Meets Aztlan (coming soon on home video). Who put that locust in my burrito?( My response caught a lot of fish, including one that I kept and am putting on display as a trophy. )
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